1. Urbanization has hit Indian cities at a frenzied pace.
2. The cities are sprawling at unfettered rate and people from rural areas are flocking towards cities for better living.
3. This has led to an area crisis where per capita free space in cities is diminishing day by day.
4. The residential areas are proliferating and free spaces are dwindling at an alarming rate.
5. To make things worse the city life has become hectic and stressful so people need ways to vent out their frustration.
6. One of such ways is an open green space something like a community park in a society.
7. A huge green park in the middle of a society is a blessing in myriad ways.
8. There is one such park in our society and I go there twice a week and witness how this public facility helps people to improve their life quality.
9. But there is one particular day when I really had a great time in the park.
10. That day I got up real early and decided to have a run in the park.
11. After running for half an hour I decided to take a break and sat on one of the benches which are set up near the boundaries of the park.
12. Suddenly I heard a huge roar of so many people.
13. When I turned towards the direction the sound was coming from I saw a group of elderly people doing some sort of strange thing.
14. Then I remembered that the aged people of our society have formed a laughter club and every morning one can hear a group of people laughing like crazy while standing in the park.
15. This is called laughter therapy and has been proved highly beneficial for health scientifically.
16. So I decided to join that group.
17. At first they were a bit surprised to see a youngster among them because they were not used to have young children in their group.
18. When I told them I want to try this therapy they warmly welcomed me and apprised me of the method which they said is a kind of ritual of their group.
19. I started following their every move and laughed and stopped whenever they did.
20. An exercise which started just as an experiment ended up being one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.
21. I never thought that a youngster could enjoy the company of old people so much.
22. After the routine they invited me to have snacks with them.
23. While having snacks they shared their life experiences with me which were enlightening to say the least.
24. They also asked me about my future plans and when I told them that I intend to become an engineer, one of the group members who had retired as an engineer talked to me at length about this field and that discussion dispelled so many doubts which I had previously.